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The former Wales captain, Gwyn Jones, seemed to sum up the mood this week when, praising Wales's resilience in their run of three successive victories that has given them the opportunity of retaining their Six Nations title against England, admitted that he took little joy out of watching a team that has traditionally been one of the most creative and free-spirited in the world but has become wedded to power and physicality.

It was a theme taken up by a group of supporters who turned up to Wales's base on Thursday hoping to watch the training session that afternoon. Pessimistic about Wales's prospects of beating England, never mind winning by enough to finish at the top of the table, they were reminded about the Scott Gibbs move that delivered the late victory at Wembley in 1999.

"Moves? We only have one, bringing in one of our big wings into the midfield," said one. Much has been made about the drop-off in Chris Ashton's try rate, but his opposite number on Saturday , George North, has scored three in his past 17 internationals compared to nine in his first 13. Wales's three-quarters have said in the past couple of weeks that they would relish seeing the ball more, but their desires are subservient to a gameplan based on territory and putting opponents under pressure at the scrum and breakdown.

Wales have an effective kicking game and the meanest defence in the Six Nations, as they did when they won the grand slam last season and in 2008, prompting their coach, Shaun Edwards, to point out that when they were the hardest side to break down, they tended to claim the title.

When Wales won the grand slam in 2005 Scotland and Italy had a worse defensive record than them, but they scored more tries than anyone else. They lead the try scoring this year, but eight years ago they were prepared to attack from all over the pitch, adopting an offloading game that was French in nature. They now operate far closer to the opposition line.

The achievement in 2005 proved a one-off, as had the triple crown in 1988 and the Five Nations title in 1994, when England denied them the grand slam at Twickenham. While pockets of Wales will see Saturday as a mission to prevent England claiming the grand slam, there is just as much at stake for the home side, if not more.

"History, whatever," was the response of the interim head coach, Robert Howley, this week, when it was pointed out that Wales had not retained the title since 1979. Success had, since then, not been built on, but they have an opportunity to consolidate gains: they turned an appearance in the 2011 World Cup semi-final into the grand slam five months later, and retaining the title would mean a level of consistency not seen since the golden era.

The Millennium Stadium's roof will be shut on the agreement of both teams but it is debatable how much difference it will make to the hosts. Wales have argued this year that their style of play has been based on weather conditions – it has tended to rain when they play – and circumstance: the defeat against Ireland on the opening weekend was their eighth in a row and their last victory in Cardiff was against France a year ago. It is doubtful if they would have played any other way, even in the warm and dry, having used largely the same game plan for 18 months but, unlike England, they do not appear to have an alternative.

James Hook, a player capable of bringing the under-utilised Leigh Halfpenny into the back division with his range of passes, has been on the field for 18 minutes in this tournament, and he has not started a game for his country since the last World Cup. While Wales, who, like England, have won eight of their past nine championship matches, have the measure of teams in the Six Nations, they have come out on the wrong side against the major southern hemisphere nations since the end of 2008.

They bemoaned a narrow series of defeats to Australia last year, but a lack of creativity under pressure cost them. Unlike the Wallabies, they could not fashion a try when they needed to and it has to be the next step in their evolution.

Tomorrow, though, is another day. Wales know how to win tight matches in the Six Nations and their seven-point victories over England and France last season would be enough to give them the title. They will look to win penalties and free-kicks from scrums and the battle between the props Gethin Jenkins and Dan Cole will be every bit as fierce at the breakdown as it is up front. Wales will want the ball on the floor, England will prefer mauls.

It will be different for Wales from 1999 and 1989 when they denied England the title in Cardiff. As the fly-half Dan Biggar acknowledged, they will not celebrate a negative. "It would not mean a lot to me if we won but did not take the title," he said. "Rugby is all about trophies."